Since May, Ankara has blocked the entry of Sweden – as well as Finland – into NATO, accusing Stockholm of harboring members of the PKK on its territory.
Turkey is notnot in positionto ratify Sweden’s membership of NATO as it stands, said Ibrahim Kalin, close adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Saturday January 14, after a new incident this week. “We are not in a position to send the law for ratification to Parliament, we have a real problem on this subjecthe assured, saying that the deputies would risk rejecting it.
Ankara on Thursday denounced a video montage made by a group close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sweden, showing President Erdogan hanged and called “dictator“. The Swedish ambassador in Ankara has been summoned by the Foreign Ministry.
This new incident comes at a time when Turkey has been blocking the entry of Sweden – as well as Finland – into NATO since May, accusing it of harboring on its territory members of the PKK and organizations allied to it. ci, whom she considers to be terrorists. “We have been in this process for six or seven months and it is not good for Sweden to appear in this light. We want to move forward and progress but if these kinds of incidents continue, it will slow down the process.»
“clear message”
For Ibrahim Kalin, Sweden must send “a clear messageconcerning the attitude of the members of the PKK on its soil. He nevertheless acknowledged that the new Swedish government had taken several important steps, including the visit, “very appreciated», of the Swedish Prime Minister in Ankara shortly after his accession to power as well as «the amendment of the Constitution, a positive step“. But we will still have to waitsix monthsbefore the new related laws are written and validated by Parliament, he noted.
Furthermore, Ibrahim Kalin asserted that Turkey “do not ask anything from Sweden or Finland that is not in accordance with their law: we are very realistic“. The Turkish government has notably called for the expulsion of several members of the PKK and of the Fetö movement (acronym used by Ankara to designate the movement of preacher Fethullah Gülen, Editor’s note) accused of having fomented the 2016 coup attempt.
SEE ALSO – NATO: Turkey “wants things that we cannot give it”, insists the Swedish Prime Minister